Amid Lesniak NJ Guv Rumblings, Green Says He Is Committed to Murphy

Despite murmurings from state Senator Ray Lesniak’s (D-Elizabeth) camp about a return to the gubernatorial arena, Union County Democratic Chairman Jerry Green intends to remain loyal to Phil Murphy, the retired Goldman Sachs executive who’s running for governor next year.

“I committed to the man, I intend to support him because I am a man of my word, and I wish everyone else good luck,” Green told PolitickerNJ.

Lesniak and Green had a tiff at the League of Municipalities Conference last week when Lesniak evidently broached the topic of governor with the county chairman. The veteran state senator was in, then out, and now apparently in the hunt again. A source said some preliminary discussions between Murphy and Lesniak did not go great.

For his part, Green said he is now dug in with Murphy. So evidently is nearly every county Democratic chair in the state, including Somerset County’s Peg Schaffer, who huddled up with her people at the Chelsea in Atlantic City last week for an official endorsement of Murphy.